Related Tags:

Will.i.am was on the floor of the Democratic National Convention to offer his support to the president and the First Lady. The “Yes We Can” producer gave his thoughts on the First Lady’s speech from North Carolina on Tuesday (September 4).

“I remember when I met Michelle Obama in 2007 and I saw her speak at a very small fundraising lunch, I was so moved by her speech,” Will.i.am told CNN after Mrs. Obama left the stage. “Seeing her today reminded me of the first time I met Michelle Obama. I was moved by her speech. Being a mama’s boy and being raised by a strong single mom is why I was inspired by the Obamas.”

Michelle Obama’s speech played up her connection to average American families and the humble roots that she shares with her husband.

“Barack knows the American Dream because he’s lived it,” she said. “And he wants everyone in this country to have that same opportunity, no matter who we are, or where we’re from, or what we look like, or who we love.”

Will.i.am famously recruited celebrities and notable voices for his “Yes We Can” video in support of the president. Nearly four years after the video celebrated the candidate of “hope,” Will.i.am said that the message remains the same.

The sentence is yes we–in capital letters–can, collectively, individually changing your family your neighborhood and community and spreading that to change your country,” he said. “If you think that ‘yes we can’ is waiting for someone to do it for you…it’s a collective a village. That’s what the inspiration from Michelle did for me to change my neighborhood.”

Will explained how he was moved to build a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) school in his East LA hometown. Recently, Will’s music was blasted his new single, “Reach For The Stars,” into Mars via the Curiosity Rover, which landed on the planet in August.

“It’s cool because what it means and why it was being from Mars,” he said. “To inspire these kids to want to be scientist technicians, mathematicians; to create the next medical equipment, the next turbine engines, the next new innovative tools to change our lives.”